Nancy studied Comparative Literature at Rutgers University. She later trained in the conservation of rare books in Florence, Italy and at the Library of Congress, work which led to her study of bookmaking history, book design and photography, and to the making of artist’s books—her writing combined with visual images. Nancy has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the DC Commission on the Arts, and numerous awards from the American Institute of Graphic Arts for her Skin of Glass and Not Altogether True Not Altogether False. The Vanishing of Rose B. is her debut novel.

Skin of Glass is a remarkable book, a visual and verbal meditation on the bonds of parent and child, the mysteries of love and fate, and the time and timelessness that envelops all our spirits and lives. Garruba speaks directly from her heart with a grace and humility most rare. This is a work to touch and be touched by.

—Jock Reynolds, Director, Addison Gallery of American Art

Nancy Garruba never fails to move, challenge and confront her viewers. This autobiographical work is concerned with the excruciating death of the artist’s son. It is an exquisite object, as much an homage to her son as well as a rebellion against the injustice of death. Another monumental work from Garruba.

—Elizabeth Hess, Village Voice

Printed and bound to replicate a checkbook, Not Altogether True Not Altogether False makes a connection between economics and artistic production . . . the production of an individual woman artist-entrepreneur. Garruba’s book is clever in the best sense: funny, provocative, critical.

—Martha Gever, Afterimage

Skin of Glass and Not Altogether True Not Altogether False (both out of print) are in the following collections:

Art Institute of Chicago

Carnegie Mellon University

Eastman Museum

Harvard College

International Center for Photography

MACBA/Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona

Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago

Museum of Modern Art, New York

National Museum of Women in the Arts

Ohio University

Rhode Island School of Design Library

Rutgers University

University of Louisville

University of Utah

University of Washington-Seattle

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Ursinus College

Yale University